More than 600 members of the Class of 2024 graduated from Gilroy and Christopher high schools last week, as the schools and their families send the teens into adulthood.
Christopher High School’s graduation ceremony took place the evening of June 6 on the school’s Day Road campus. Gilroy High School’s commencement ceremony occurred June 7 at the campus’s Centennial Circle Quad on Tenth Street.
Speakers at Christopher’s ceremony included ASB President Adanna Ihenancho, Senior Class President Aaron Singh, Principal Jeremy Dirks, Social Studies Teacher Darren Yafai, Class of 2024 Poet Laureate Elizabeth Van Sambeek, Salutatorian Joshua Jang and Valedictorian Lavender Hwang.
In the Principal’s Address, Dirks offered the graduates some advice and wisdom as they move into the adult world, and promised he will remain available to help them on that journey.
“As you head off to your next chapter in life and things get rough, just know you have a solid foundation here, created by Christopher High School and Gilroy Unified School District,” Dirks said. “Make goals where you want to end up, constantly look at them and move toward them.
“If you’re not moving toward them, ask yourself why not, and try to obtain those goals you created for yourself. Move forward, even if it’s just a little bit at a time. Doing so will help you become the person you want to be, and that’s what life is all about.”
Gilroy High School’s ceremony’s featured speakers included Valedictorian Madison Krejdovsky, Salutatorian Abigail Imerson, graduate Vanessa Moreno Cano and graduate Erin Castro.
More than 100 graduates from both schools donned gold cords designating their Biliteracy Seal achievement, which is given to students who have attained a high level of proficiency in speaking, reading and writing in one or more languages other than English.
